SF Giants bullpen wastes Perdomo’s scoreless gem in loss to Mets

With a whopping 20 names dotting the injured list, the Giants have had to rely on a multitude of unheralded call-ups from Triple-A Sacramento to fill out the roster. Among them is Cesar Perdomo, who made his first start in the majors after working through four innings of relief on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan right-hander began the year in Richmond, moved up to Sacramento midway through the year, and then got his summon to San Francisco on Sept. 1. With the rotation decimated by injuries and trades, manager Tony Vitello handed the ball to the rookie on Sunday afternoon.

The 24-year-old was exceptional, allowing only three hits and one walk in six innings. Facing Juan Soto as his final batter with a runner on first, Perdomo fought back from an 0-2 count to induce a ground ball on a 94 mile per hour fastball for an inning-ending double play.

Perdomo’s great effort was wasted by another disasterclass by the bullpen. The Giants (59-85) blew the lead late and lost 4-2.

Brett Baty made the Giants sweat with his ninth home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning off Carson Seymour. With a AJ Ewing on second, Jung Hoo Lee saved a run with a spectacular diving grab in right field to keep the score at 2-1.

That merely delayed the inevitable. Bo Bichette slammed his 16th home run of the year to give the Mets a 4-2 lead the home team would not relinquish.

Mets right-handed starter Christian Scott stifled the Giants hitters early on, not allowing a hit until Bryce Eldridge lined a single to right in the fourth inning.

Jonah Cox, playing his first game at second base, followed that up by turning a single into a double with aggressive baserunning with two outs.

Having seemingly figured out Scott, Lee gave the Giants a 2-0 lead with a broken bat bloop single over the head of Mets second baseman and Bay Area native Marcus Semien.

Scott finished the day having pitched 4.2 innings, throwing 80 pitches, allowing four hits and two earned runs.

The Mets were able to threaten in the seventh inning, putting a runner on third with two outs against Joel Kuhnel. But the righthander who had been claimed off waivers from the Brewers the day before worked out of the jam, getting Semien to fly out to Cox, now back to center.

Rafael Devers entered Sunday afternoon as the hottest hitter in baseball, having slugged six home runs in his past half-dozen games. That included a two homer effort in Saturday’s victory at Citi Field. He was unable to send another ball over the fence, but he did lace a 107 mile per hour single in the eighth inning.

The Giants will return to the Bay Area on Monday to begin a series against the Cardinals. Logan Webb (8-8, 4.21 ERA) will take the mound against a yet to be determined St. Louis starter.